The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding delves into the darkness of man’s heart and explores the frightening truths about our true nature. The novel, written in wartime, explores the “darkness of man’s heart” within a group of boys stranded on an isolated island. The boys are quick to create rules and they elect a leader, the protagonist, Ralph. The story follows Ralph as their strong, civilized society decays before his eyes. In the beginning, Ralph meets a plump boy who, quite fittingly, is called Piggy, while he is exploring the beach. It is revealed that they were in a plane crash with other boys. The only one who died was the pilot. Piggy points out a conch on the beach, and Ralph uses its awesome sound to summon the other boys. When the boys assemble, they decide to form a society until they get rescued. They immediately create rules. One of the most significant was that the conch would determine who could speak. The person holding the conch would be the only one who could speak, giving order to their assemblies. Then comes the deal with choosing a leader. Jack, the head of the boys choir, which was flying with them, thought he was best suited for the role because, “I can sing in C sharp”. One of the boys, Roger, suggests a vote. Although the choir votes for Jack, there is an overwhelming majority on the side of Ralph. In order to prevent Jack from rebelling, Ralph gives them to Jack, who makes them hunters. At that time everything seemed perfect. The boys were having fun and eventually would be rescued. However, things would not always be so light Golding finds an interesting way of distorting the small group of boys on the island. The instrument of devastation he uses is the “beast”, a name that haunts the boys day and night, filling them with a fear so terrible it tears them apart. A small child, maybe six or seven years old, is the one to introduce it. He claimed to have seen it crawl from the beach and told the boys during an assembly. At the time, they dismiss it as a frightened child’s overactive imagination. Contrary to their immediate conviction, they start to get afraid when strange events occur. While drama is unfolding on a tiny, obscure island, the outside world goes through similar turmoil. The world is at war, and the countries are fighting amongst themselves. As the boys on the island turn on each other, the world seems to do the same. In a sense, the island is a metaphor for the whole world. Golding wanted to show what war did to the world, and he did it through the Lord of the Flies. The boys first start to split when Jack, tired of having to obey Ralph, leaves the group. Most of the boys follow him. They form a tribe in a mountainous area they name Castle rock. Simon, one of the few still loyal to Ralph, accidentally sees Jack’s tribe heartlessly murder a mother sow. They subsequently sever its head and drive it into the ground. This is yet another example of the savageness that the boys have obtained. This is when Simon, delusional as he was, “talks” to the Lord of the Flies, which manifested itself in the severed pig head. Simon is told that the beast is inside them. At that time, Simon is the only one who understood this. The Lord of the Flies mimics the have-fun attitude of the boys. It tells of the Simon’s separation from the others and their inability to hear the truths Simon tries to tell them. The Lord of the Flies, that beast inside everyone, man’s essential illness, the darkness of man’s heart, reveals what is really going on in the island. Ralph’s group later decided to see Jack and get some food. They arrived and ate heartily. Conflicts rise and Ralph’s group get ready to leave. That’s when the rain starts. Jack’s tribe start to dance to a demonic chant. “Kill the beast, cut it’s throat, spill its blood!” they scream. Ralph and his band cannot help but join in. They dance and dance and dance, until Simon walks in. In the heat of the moment, the boys brutally maul Simon, an act that only tells more about their animalistic lack of humanity. As Ralph and Piggy the events that had transpired, they start to realize what is happening to them. In the night, Jack raids their camp and snatches Piggy’s gasses, the only thing for making a fire. When they go to reclaim the glasses, a fight breaks out. Piggy is killed by Roger, who hurled a giant boulder. Ralph is forced to flee for his life. Jack orders a day-long search that following day to find Ralph and kill him. Can Ralph evade the others and survive? To find out, you’ll have to read The Lord of the Flies.
By the way, I know its not indented, but the wikispace wouldn't let me indent. I did not forget.
A Brief Summary
Two boys, Ralph and Piggy realize they are stranded on an island
Piggy finds a conch and Ralph blows into it to attract the attention of any of the survivors from the plane crashed
Ralph is established as leader and the boys split up into groups to different tasks like hunting and building shelter
The boys are able to create a signal fire, but one little boy goes missing
Jack, the lead hunter is still unable to kill a pig for the group to eat
Jack gets mad at Ralph for not being able to keep order and Ralph points out to Jack that getting off the island is more important than finding meat
Maurice thinks he sees smoke from a ship
However, its too late; the signal fire is out and the ship passes without even seeing them
Jack finally catches a pig, but lets out the fire in doing so which prevents the ship from seeing them
Ralph calls an assembly discuss problems and how they are going to fix them
Talk about a possible beast sparks a heated debate and Ralph is never able to get all the boys to understand him
The boys continue on their hunt for the beast
Ralph and Jack claim to have found the beast
Jack forms his own group with the hunters and separates from Ralph
Simon figures out the beast that Ralph and Jack found was just a dead parachutist
The boys murder Simon because it was dark out and they thought he was the beast
Piggy is killed when Ralph’s group attempts to retrieve Piggy’s stolen glasses
Sam and Eric are forced to join the tribe
Jack sends everyone to hunt Ralph down and kill him
To find out if Ralph survives, read the Lord of the Flies
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plot
The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding delves into the darkness of man’s heart and explores the frightening truths about our true nature. The novel, written in wartime, explores the “darkness of man’s heart” within a group of boys stranded on an isolated island. The boys are quick to create rules and they elect a leader, the protagonist, Ralph. The story follows Ralph as their strong, civilized society decays before his eyes.
In the beginning, Ralph meets a plump boy who, quite fittingly, is called Piggy, while he is exploring the beach. It is revealed that they were in a plane crash with other boys. The only one who died was the pilot. Piggy points out a conch on the beach, and Ralph uses its awesome sound to summon the other boys. When the boys assemble, they decide to form a society until they get rescued. They immediately create rules. One of the most significant was that the conch would determine who could speak. The person holding the conch would be the only one who could speak, giving order to their assemblies. Then comes the deal with choosing a leader. Jack, the head of the boys choir, which was flying with them, thought he was best suited for the role because, “I can sing in C sharp”. One of the boys, Roger, suggests a vote. Although the choir votes for Jack, there is an overwhelming majority on the side of Ralph. In order to prevent Jack from rebelling, Ralph gives them to Jack, who makes them hunters. At that time everything seemed perfect. The boys were having fun and eventually would be rescued. However, things would not always be so light
Golding finds an interesting way of distorting the small group of boys on the island. The instrument of devastation he uses is the “beast”, a name that haunts the boys day and night, filling them with a fear so terrible it tears them apart. A small child, maybe six or seven years old, is the one to introduce it. He claimed to have seen it crawl from the beach and told the boys during an assembly. At the time, they dismiss it as a frightened child’s overactive imagination. Contrary to their immediate conviction, they start to get afraid when strange events occur.
While drama is unfolding on a tiny, obscure island, the outside world goes through similar turmoil. The world is at war, and the countries are fighting amongst themselves. As the boys on the island turn on each other, the world seems to do the same. In a sense, the island is a metaphor for the whole world. Golding wanted to show what war did to the world, and he did it through the Lord of the Flies.
The boys first start to split when Jack, tired of having to obey Ralph, leaves the group. Most of the boys follow him. They form a tribe in a mountainous area they name Castle rock. Simon, one of the few still loyal to Ralph, accidentally sees Jack’s tribe heartlessly murder a mother sow. They subsequently sever its head and drive it into the ground. This is yet another example of the savageness that the boys have obtained.
This is when Simon, delusional as he was, “talks” to the Lord of the Flies, which manifested itself in the severed pig head. Simon is told that the beast is inside them. At that time, Simon is the only one who understood this. The Lord of the Flies mimics the have-fun attitude of the boys. It tells of the Simon’s separation from the others and their inability to hear the truths Simon tries to tell them. The Lord of the Flies, that beast inside everyone, man’s essential illness, the darkness of man’s heart, reveals what is really going on in the island.
Ralph’s group later decided to see Jack and get some food. They arrived and ate heartily. Conflicts rise and Ralph’s group get ready to leave. That’s when the rain starts. Jack’s tribe start to dance to a demonic chant. “Kill the beast, cut it’s throat, spill its blood!” they scream. Ralph and his band cannot help but join in. They dance and dance and dance, until Simon walks in. In the heat of the moment, the boys brutally maul Simon, an act that only tells more about their animalistic lack of humanity.
As Ralph and Piggy the events that had transpired, they start to realize what is happening to them. In the night, Jack raids their camp and snatches Piggy’s gasses, the only thing for making a fire. When they go to reclaim the glasses, a fight breaks out. Piggy is killed by Roger, who hurled a giant boulder. Ralph is forced to flee for his life. Jack orders a day-long search that following day to find Ralph and kill him. Can Ralph evade the others and survive? To find out, you’ll have to read The Lord of the Flies.
By the way, I know its not indented, but the wikispace wouldn't let me indent. I did not forget.
A Brief Summary